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From Failed Psychiatrist To $149-Million Fraud: Indian-Origin Man's Trail Of Scandal In US
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Tonmoy Sharma, once a high-profile doctor in the UK, has long courted headlines- first for his research work and then for the ethical and legal storms that followed.
Indian-origin doctor Tonmoy Sharma was arrested in the United States for allegedly masterminding a $149-million healthcare fraud. The 58-year-old was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport as he was allegedly preparing to flee to Dubai.
Tonmoy Sharma, once a high-profile doctor in the UK, has long courted headlines- first for his research work and then for the ethical and legal storms that followed.
Tonmoy Sharma first rose to prominence in the 1990s for conducting clinical trials for major pharmaceutical companies in the UK. But his reputation began to unravel in 2001 when concerns were raised about irregularities in a £250,000 study comparing Sanofi's antipsychotic drug Amisulpride with a rival from Eli Lilly.
Sanofi launched a private investigation after their medical adviser, Catherine Baxter, flagged discrepancies in Tonmoy Sharma's work. The probe uncovered a series of ethics violations which included fabricated approvals from ethics committees, recruitment of vulnerable patients without proper consent, financial incentives to encourage participation and false academic claims including a non-existent professorship and doctorate.
In 2007, after multiple complaints and an investigation by the UK's General Medical Council, Tonmoy Sharma's medical licence was revoked. He was found guilty of serious professional misconduct after which he moved to the United States.
Allegations In The US
In California, Tonmoy Sharma established Sovereign Health Group, which rapidly grew into a prominent network of addiction treatment centres. Since 2017, Sovereign has been under investigation by the FBI for suspected fraud. In 2018, federal agents raided the group's headquarters in San Clemente, several treatment centres and Tonmoy Sharma's residence in San Juan Capistrano.
Though Sovereign shut down that year, Tonmoy Sharma continued operating under a new name- Dana Shores Recovery- using a different license to stay under the radar.
According to the federal indictment, Tonmoy Sharma and his associates submitted more than $149 million in fraudulent insurance claims and received at least $21 million in illegal kickbacks for patient referrals. He now faces four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy, and three counts of receiving illegal remunerations.
If convicted, Tonmoy Sharma could face up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud charge, five years for conspiracy, and 10 years for each kickback-related offense.
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Mallika Soni
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First Published:
June 05, 2025, 20:53 IST
